Watchdog gets tough on 'silent' marketing calls

The media and telecoms regulator Ofcom yesterday launched a crackdown on nuisance calls that leave the recipient answering the phone only to encounter an eerie silence.

The growing use of automatic dialling machines by telemarketing companies, market researchers and others has led to an increase in the number of so-called "silent calls" where the volume of outgoing calls is too great for the operators to deal with.

Ofcom's revised policy requires companies to carry a recorded message identifying themselves and offer the recipient the opportunity to decline any further calls.